LATE QUATERNARY EVOLUTION OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF AND COASTAL SYSTEM OF THE DELMARVA PENINSULA

Using over 14,000 trackline kilometers of multi-channel, single-channel boomer, sparker and Chirp seismic reflection profile data collected over 12,000 km² we define the geologic framework offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula. We ground truth these findings with published borehole and vibracore data, as well as vibracore samples and radiometric and amino acid racemization and Carbon 14 age estimates recently acquired as part of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Atlantic Sand Assessment Project. We find Holocene sediment thickness to range from 0-14 meters in the study area. We also map an extensive paleochannel network to the shelf edge. These data and interpretations comprise one of the most data-rich, and aerially extensive continental shelf studies on the U.S. Atlantic Coast. This project builds on the scope and scale of other inner continental shelf studies conducted by the USGS in conjunction with state and academic cooperators in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina.